Taste - Starts off with the citrus and piney hops then goes into the bready roasted caramalts, pine resin, and tropical fruits.

Mouthfeel - Medium bodied with moderate carbonation. Finishes with a lingering bitterness from the hops and the caramalts.

Overall - An easy drinking Black IPA. The hop and malt profile are done well in this one but the aromas lacked. Perhaps some dry hopping may help the smell be more true to the style. A worthy go if you are fan of the style. Nice to see a new offering from Garrison out in Cowtown.

I am a big fan of this style of beer, so I was thrilled to find this on the shelf in my local bottle shop. This rendition is hearty, hoppy, and a bit rough around the edges. The coffee, dark chocolate and roasted malt all work well together. I found this quite bitter, which is not a bad thing, just harder on the palate.

650ml bottle, the newest arrival from the East Coast in Alberta (beer-wise, that is!)

This beer pours a sediment-strewn, dark red-brick amber colour, with one skinny finger of meekly puffy, and mostly just bubbly dirty white head, which leaves some bent coral reef lace around the glass as things slowly ebb away.

It smells of bready, doughy, and lightly-roasted caramel malt, buttered biscuits, a mild hard water flintiness, and herbal, piney, and damp earthy hops. The taste is quite in line with the aroma - sweet grainy, meaty caramel malt, wan butterscotch, wet stone paths after the rain, an understated dank ashiness, and more leafy, weedy, and piney hops.

The bubbles are fairly chipper in their tightly-rendered frothiness, the body a sturdy medium weight, and more than a tad clammy in its otherwise genial smoothness. It finishes off-dry, the faintly toasted caramel holding fast, while the hops start their long swirl around the proverbial drain.

Kind of an English-seeming take on the 'American' black ale, it would seem - both the char and the hops restrained as if by design. At any rate, still a weird collusion of styles, an unnecessary collision of worlds, one that just isn't getting any easier to drink. But if you like it, then this is worth trying, I suppose.

Seems to be more brown than black. Some off-white head sitting on top. A decent enough hop aroma. Good herbal and pine qualities. As usual, lots of roasted malt notes, too. The flavor is quite dry with a lot of roasted malt. Good herbal and pine hop flavors with some mild citrus peel. A nice bitterness to the flavor, too. Not bad.

big ups to andrenaline by way of peensteen for hooking this up in our latest trade
A - matte black finish on this hot rod, thumb of tan head receded slowly leaving random blobs on the glass
S - butterscotch and light roastiness, subtle grassy and perfume hop hints, and milk chocolate
T - bitter bakers chocolate mixed with pine and perfume hops, light toffee and just a touch of smoke, this is a unique bitter sweet treat
M - biggish body, smooth, bitter sweet with the bitter lasting strong through finish
O - a fine and unique version of this style from a brewer that I have been generally pleased with, keep em coming

Deep brown body. Pale tan head is tight, retentive, and quite lacy. Bright citrus aroma with leafy and floral notes. Hop forward with a pleasant grapefruit flavour and lesser notes of brown sugar and dark chocolate. Theres some light char in here as well. Finishes with a lingering bitterness of medium intensity. Medium-bodied with low carbonation and a slick, oily mouthfeel. This is some pretty tasty beer, but I think it would do better without that burnt note. It just isn't pleasant in concert with the bitterness of the hops. That said, it isn't off-putting enough to ruin my enjoyment of this beer.

Pours the color of cola with extra reddish glints. The pillowy tan head lasts the whole glass and coats it in lace. Chocolatey roastyness and citrusy hops fill the nose. The first sip does not betray the nose, lots of hops, now with more pine notes mingle with a solid, roasty malt profile. The mouthfeel is thick and full with a somewhat languid carbonation. Lots of mouthcoating bitterness lingers in the finish, as does a pleasant dark chocolate character.

This beer covers the ground of both a stout and an IPA well. It reminds me of one of the first beers I brewed, an extra hoppy Imperial Stout I made at a BOP. Seek this out, delicious stuff from a great brewery.

Dark brown body, with some dark purple around the edges. Light lacing and moderate retention. Leafy hop notes on the nose, some pine, sharp citrus. Some chocolate and mild char. Big toasty, biscuity notes. Taste is blegh, burnt and charred malts, some metal and only a vague sense of hops. Lingering acrid bitterness, with a thin body. Flavour is weird, and does absolutely nothing for me. Didn't believe the dating on this initially, but the LCBO needs to do better at bringing beers in that aren't far beyond their prime. Offputting at best.

T - Surprisingly the malts come off the top with a nice dark cocoa and espresso malt, followed by a citrus bitterness which calms to a sweet cotton candy hop finish. What a transition from bitter to sweet, superbly balanced with an incredible citrus hop finish.

M - Medium bodied, smooth with sneaky dry finish that creeps up.

O - A very tasty Black IPA and certainly one of the more flavourful that I've tried to date. A unique bittersweet flavour that I have yet to experience, and an excellent example of the style. Loads of flavour, easy drinking and I'm super pumped to have had the opportunity to try this one.

Appearance - Black/brown colour with an average size fizzy/frothy beige coloured head. I can't see much carbonation due the darkness of the beer and there is some good lacing on the sides of the glass. The head lasted for around 5 minutes.

Smell - Faint chocolate, malts, hops, grapefruit

Taste & Mouth - The beer has an average amount of carbonation and I can taste faint chocolate, coffee, and some light roasted notes. There is also some grapefruit and fairly bitter hops. It ends with a chocolatey and malty aftertaste with a good amount of lingering hop bitterness.

Overall – This is one of my favouritre styles of beer, and while this particular one isn't spectacular, it's very drinkable and has a decent flavour. It needs a touch more from the IPA department but it still has a nice hoppiness and good malt background. The price would prevent me from returning to it often though.

Black IPA might be just that if not for one thing: the light. Even brief inspection up to the window reveals cedar-colored highlights and large patches of clarity. (No worries, it's the accuracy of the "IPA" part of the name that I'm more concerned about.) The way the blotches of its head contrast the dark liquid it looks like some kind of naval map.

The bouquet takes your nose on a walk through the woods. Woodsy, floral, herbal, and earthy elements all contribute to a hoppy aroma that, while not overwhelming, still distracts from the sweetish and lightly roasted malts. The two parts blend well enough that eyes closed any beer geek should have no problem identifying this by name ('Black IPA').

What I love most about these so called 'black ales' is how the roast and cola-like sweetness of the crystal and toasted malts is enlivened by tropical flavors of grapefruit and papaya. There is a slight impression of milk chocolate or roasted coffee beans but it's quickly mowed down (no pun intended) by the grassy taste of freshly-harvested hops.

The lingering flavour of pine serum makes the mouthfeel most satisfying. It has a very oily personae, showcasing the peppermint-like notes of an herbal tea, albeit with the roasty astringency of coffee. Mind you, the chocolate and nutty flavors are subtle in comparison to others in the style, although some cocoa characteristics are appreciated.

Black IPA is an unfiltered, dry-hopped hybrid mix of Garrison’s Martello Stout and their Imperial IPA but it makes a wholly respectable beer in its own right. Anyone wondering if the sum is greater than its parts ought to buy a bottle or two (spoiler alert: it very well may be). Bottom line is that Garrison doesn't make bad beers - blends included.

Pours a dark brown with ruby highlights. Three fingers of tan head. Foamy good retention. Nose is sweet roasted caramel malts, vanilla. Taste is bitter coffee grinds, mollasses, malts. Medium bodied ale.
Overal, not to style - not hoppy, not well balanced with roasted malts. I believe this is a blend of two beers rather than a black ipa.

Poured an opaque black, with a rusty brown tone and specks of white sediment. The head wad medium-sized, off-white and very frothy. it was retained as a thick film and left some spotty lacing. Very appealing if you're into dark ales.

Smells of coffee, chocolate, floral hops and dark toffee. I also get a deep fruit or berry note and one of musty wood.

The taste follows the aroma, though I find the berry/fruit character more forward than I expected. The body is mainly a chocolate and coffee blend with a nice toasted quality about it. The finish has a solid bitterness.

Surprisingly thin-bodied with a moderate carbonation. Very creamy on the tongue. The aftertaste is quite fruity, with all the toasty, chocolate and coffee flavours lingering on the back of the tongue.

Pleasant beer that I was expecting to be quite different. More of a sipper for me with characteristics of my favourite imperial stouts. The fruit and wood tones really made this beer enjoyable. Will buy again.

A - Pours very deep amber. Bright. Lot's of carbonation coming up. Two fingers of fluffy light brown head on top look like they wanna stick around. A few thick rings and chunks of lace are left with a full finger of retention.

S - Lot's of great roasty notes with a huge hop nose as well. Licorice covered hops perhaps. Aroma reminds me of chocolate, a slight coffee note, and some citrus fruits with orange quite present. The hops are really strong, mixing well with the great malt body.

T - Sweet chocolate and dark malt with huge citrus mixing in as well. A great hop/malt blend with both elements really blending aggressively, yet well. A stout like sweetness with lot's of roastiness and sweet chocolately malt up front with a great resinous hop mix afterwards.

M - A good bitterness in the finish follows good carbonation and a medium-full body.

O/D - A fairly tasty Black IPA. I liked it alot but the beer seems like it wants to be more of a hoppy stout than a black IPA. It's good stuff though and very drinkable while being nice and complex. A good offering.

Near black with some ruby highlights, one finger of tan head, fair bit of lacing on the glass. Smell is of roasted malt and bittersweet chocolate, orange, citrus and pine, fairly hoppy stuff, some nice coffee and milk chocolate show up behind the huge roast and hop bill. Taste is initially roasty and chocolatey, espresso flavours come through, hops make their way in towards the middle, lots of citrus and pine with a moderate bitterness, bittersweet and roasty flavours in finish with a long dry aftertaste. Medium carbonation, dry, medium to full body, medium weight. Pleasantly drinkable and would have this again, one of the roastier black ipa's I have come across so far, fairly solid stuff.

Wasn't a huge fan of this release in 2010, but picked some up at the brewery in 2011 and IMO it is fantastic! A proverbial "hop bomb", there's no mistaking this for a standard dark ale.

Cloudy dark brown colour is opaque except at the edges of the glass. Decent coffee-coloured head and lacing. Aroma is pure "c" hop, I would have guessed this as a "west-coast" brew if I hadn't seen the brewery in Halifax.

The taste has elements of roasted malt sweetness with some caramel tones, but the predominant flavours are definitely citrus & pine hop notes. The finish has a nice alsohol warmth and a brilliant level of bitterness that lingers impressively.

An excellent example of the American Black IPA style. Didn't buy enough, so will be looking forward to its impending arrival at the LCBO...

Got this one from phirleh in the summer. Thanks for the trade, and thanks for coming to hang out!

From a 500ml bottle into a snifter.

APPEARANCE: A brown pour produces a one finger, medium-thin, tan head with good retention. Head eventually fades to a good foam cap. Bistre brown in color with medium-higher levels of carbonation. A thick ring remains until the end but leaves no real lacing down the glass.

SMELL: Some roasted and smoky malt, caramel malt, and a light touch of cocoa powder. Some floral hop notes there as well, but this one is actually quite stout-like for the style. Pretty nice.

TASTE: Follows the nose with some roasted and smoky malt and plenty of floral hops through the middle. Caramel malts accompany the floral notes and lead into a big, lingering aftertaste of bitter piney hops and a slight hint of cocoa. The bitter piney hop finish came out of nowhere a bit and was quite tough.

OVERALL: A decent beer, but the finish was a little too bitter a closing act. Seems like it was bitter for the sake of being bitter, but it didn’t really follow from what had come before, which had been more stout-like and floral. A brew I’d have again, but wouldn’t necessarily seek out. Give it a go if you have the chance. Thanks again for the trade phirleh.

A mediocre black IPA. The bitterness is fine,citrus, but it is very stouty, expresso style roasty. Blackish body with a good amount of lace. Roasty aromas. Coffee in here. Drying finish. Tingling mouthfeel. Not very drinkable. Odd ideas and avoidable.